Brake control device



. Feb. 20, 1945.

C. L. EKSERGIAN ET AL BRAKE CONTROL DEVI CE '2 Sheets-Sheet l Filed May 5, 1943 A TTORNE Y Fell 20, 1945-V c. L. EKsx-:RGIAN ET AL 2,369,726

BRAKE CONTROL DEVICE Filed May 5, 1943 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 A TTORNE Y `Patented Feb. 20, 1945 BRAKE CONTROL DEVICE Carolus L. Eksergian and Joseph H. Coombes,

. Detroit, Mich., assignors to Budd Wheel Company, Philadelphia, Pa., a corporation of Penn- Sylvania Application May'5,

6 Claims.

The invention relates to a wheel protector for railway wheels and particularly to such a device adapted to prevent sliding of the wheels on the tracks due to brake application.

In modern high speed trains, adequate braking becomes highly important to enable the train -to be brought to a stop within reasonable distances. It is of no avail, however, to exert powerful braking on the Wheels unless the wheels are maintained during the braking in rolling contact with the rails. If the braking force overcomes the rail adhesion the wheel will slip on the rail and if the braking force is not reduced it will rapidly decelerate to a locked state in which. it slides on the rail. Such sliding on the rail is objectionable for two reasons: First, it .wears flats on the slid Wheel necessitating the removal of the wheel and the grinding and truing thereof, and second, the sliding wheel has less retarding effect on the train than a lbraked rolling Wheel, since it is Well known that the coeiiicient of slidingfriction is less than the coeflicient of rolling friction.

It is an object of the invention to overcome these diiiiculties and insure that the braking force never, during running, is allowed to remain on long enough to permit a slipping wheel to reach the sliding stage, but to maintain the braking at a high efciency by promptly again applying' the braking force to the wheel as soon as may be after the wheel as returned'to normal speed following slipping t ereof.

It is further an object of my invention to provide an instrumentality of this class which is simple in construction, efficient in operation, assured of a long life in use, and one which can be readily applied to the vehicle and manufactured at low cost.

In practice, the device may consist of a suitable valve mechanism inserted in the usual operator-controlled pressure line to the brake cylinder and an automatic control for the operation of said valve to cut off and release pressure to and from the brake cylinder, said control including an inertia governor responsive to excessive acceleration and deceleration, such as takes place on wheel'slip, of the wheelbeing braked. Preferably, one such control device is inserted in each brake cylinder pressure line so that each wheel or at least each axle of the vehicle is protected by a separate device against sliding. Withl the usual axle having two wheels fixed thereto, it

`is desirable to associate a Vcontrol device with each axle. Y

Other and further objects and advantages and 1943, serial No. 485,788

(Cl. 20G-52) the manner in which they are attained will become apparent from the following detailed ydescription when read in connection with the drawings forming a part of this specification.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a vertical axial sectional viewv through a preferred form of inertia governor device shown applied to the end of a vehicle axle,-

Fig. 2 is a section at right angles to the sectionl of Fig. 1 taken on the line 2-2 of Fig. l,

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary sectional view taken on the line 3--3 of Fig. 1,

Fig. 4 is a sectional view, the section being taken on the line 4 4 of Fig. 1, V

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary sectional view on-an enlarged scale taken on the line 5-5 of Fig. 4,

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary sectional view on an enlarged scale taken on the line 6--6 of Fig.1,

Fig. 7 is a fragmentary sectional view taken on` the line 1-1 of Fig. 2, and Y Fig. 8 is a diagrammatic view showing one arrangement of an electro-pneumatic system which may be controlled by the governor devices of either Figs. 1 to 7.

In the form of the invention herein illustrated,

the inertia governor device together with the electric switch controlled thereby is housed inva v unitary casing I Il which may take the place of the usual cover on the end of the axle bearing box II and be secured directly to the margin of the opening I2 in a manner to form a tight closure therefor, by the bolts I3.

The casing, for convenience of assembly andv disassembly, may comprise two sections I4 and I5 forming a tight joint with each other and secured together .by bolts I 6. The rotary inertia member Il is mounted through an anti-friction bearing I8 upon an outwardly projecting boss I9 extending from the inner wall I9 IU. The outer race of the bearing I8 is secured to the hub of the inertia member between a shoulder at the inner end of the hub and al split ring engaging a groove adjacent the outer end, while the inner race is secured between 'a shoulder on the inner end ofthe boss and a' nut 20 screwed onto its screw-threaded outer end. The inertia member Il is arranged to be driven from the axle 2| of the vehicle through a connection which is readily engaged when'the casing IU is assembled, by axial movement, with the axle box YI I'and axle 2|, and in order to enable the inertia member, at times, to overrun or lag behind the axle, the driving connection includes resilientv of the casing Y acceleration or deceleration persists.

the outer face of the inertia member where it is readily accessible by removing the outer section l5 of the casing, a crankshaft A22 is passed through a bore extending concentric with the axle through the inner wall |9' of the casing and the boss I9 projecting therefrom, this shaft being rotatable in bearing bushings as 23 arranged adjacent the opposite ends thereof. At its inner end the shaft` has secured to it an arm 24 which is bifurcated to'straddle a stud 25 secured in eccentric relation to the end of the axle. At its outer end it has secured to it, as by a pin 26, an arm 21 which is also bifurcated at its outer end and provided with axially extending driving extensions, 28 and 29 one on each of the furcations and spaced apart some distance,.see Fig. 2. The extensions 28 and 29 straddle a pair of flexible driving members in the form of spaced flexible spring members 30 and 3| arranged along chords approximating the diameter and at equal distances from the opposite sides of the axis of the inertia member.

These spring members are secured as by rivets at one of their adjacent ends to axial extensions 32 and 33, respectively, of a bracket 34 bolted to the outer face of the inertia member. Adjacent their opposite free yends they extend close to the adjacent faces of the driving extensions 28 and 29, respectively, and at these free ends they bear against axially extending abutments 35 and 36, respectively, projecting from a bracket 31 bolted to the outer face of the inertia member |1.

In this invention the flexible spring members 30 and 3| are tensioned by a coil spring 38 arranged between their free ends to hold them against the abutments 35 and 3B, respectively. As clearly appears in Fig. 2 the brackets 34 and 31 and members 30 and 3| are arranged in balanced relation about the axis of the inertia member so as to maintain it in balance.

From the foregoing, it will be seen that the *inertia member is constantly driven from the axle through a yielding drive. At normal rates of acceleration and deceleration, say not exceeding 5 miles per hour per second, the tension ,is suincient tomaintain the exible spring members against the abutments 35 and 36 and the drive is effected with very little deflection thereof, since the engagement of the driving extensions 28 and 29 with the members is Very close to the abut-A ments. When the acceleration or deceleration of the axle rises above the normal, say to 10 miles per hour per second, the resistance of the flexible spring member'then doing the driving and the tension of the coil spring 38 is overcome so that the flexible spring member is moved toward a xed abutment 39 projecting axially from bracket 31 between the springs 38 and 3|. When such movement occurs a switch in an electric `circuit is closed and held closed as long as such excessive When the acceleration or deceleration again reaches the normal rate, i. e. the rate of travel of the vehicle, the tension of the coil spring 38 under compression restores the parts to` the position shown in Fig. 2.

The switch controlled by the inertia member may comprise a spaced pair of collector rings 40 and 4| mounted on a plug 42 of 'insulating material, which plug has its outer end rigidly mounted in the hub of a spider 43 supported from the wall of the outer casing section I5. The inner reduced end of this plug extends between the members 30 and 3| substantially in axial alignment 'with the axis of the inertia member and carries the collector rings axially on opposite sides of said members. The collector rings are connected to binding posts 44 and 45 which in turn are connected to wires in the `circuit to be controlled by the switch which wires may be extended through the wall 'of the casing to a usual form of attachment socket indicated at 45. Opposite ythe rings 40 and 4| each of the spring members 38 and 3| carries a bridging contact 46 secured to the member intermediate its ends, suitably therefrom and carrying a pair of contact buttons, one at each end thereof, but normally spaced from the rings. When, due to abnormal acceleration or deceleration, one of the members is denected toward the stop abutment 39, the associated bridging member contact buttons are brought into engagement with the collector rings to close the switch, and the switch will be held closed until the parts return to the-position of Fig. 2, following a return to normal acceleration or deceleration.

To permit examinationV of the switch and drive at any time, a removable cover 41 is provided to close the outer reduced end of the casing |0. When the cover is removed, direct accessA is had to the binding posts and to the inside of the spider 43 through the openings between the spokes thereof. To permit lling of the axle box thread to receive a closing plug, not shown. The

bottom of the outer end of this port is preferably arranged at the level at which it is desired to hold the oil in the bearing box. By placing this port in the casing, it is unnecessary to provide a separate filler port in the axle box.

To prevent leakage of oil from the axle box into the casing I0 a suitable packing, as 49,

is provided betweenthe shaft 22 'and the boss I9. Even if there should be slight leakage of oil past the packing, it Would be thrown out centrifug'ally into an inwardly facing annular channel 50 having an inclined bottom and discharged through an opening 5| extending from the lowest portion of said channel to the' periphery of the inertia member, from whence it would collect by gravity at the bottom of the casing.

To prevent undesired surges of the inertiamember, a damper is preferably associated therewith. Such damper may comprise an arm 5,2 extending at substantially right angles from the arm 21 and preferably integral therewith, this arm 52 having at its free end a socket arranged at right angles to the at outer face 53 of the inertia member and carrying for telescoping movement with said socket a brake shoe 54 carrying on its face engaging the face 53 a suitable friction material 55. The shoe is pressed into braking engagement by a spring 55 housed Within the telescoping parts of the arm and shoe.

The operation of the inertia controlled switch shown in Figs. 1 to 7, inclusive, will now be described. While ,the axle is rotating, the inertia member |1 is driven through the shaft 22 and one of the axially extending driving arms 28 o'r 29, engaging the spring member 38 or 3| adjacent'I thereto. Obviously, the inertia member is driven by one or the other driving a'rm 28 or`29 tending to flex the associated yieldable spring member 30 or 3|. This, in turn, more or less compresses the coil spring 38, causing the other spring member to bear against the associated abutment 35 or 36,

insulated transmitting rotation tc the inertia member. While the wheels and axle are decelerating at a normal rate during braking, the tension of the coil spring is suflicient to prevent relative rotary movement between the inertia member and the shaft 22, rotating at the speed of the axle, suilicient to ilex either of the spring members and close the switch by engagement of the bridging contact with the collector rings 40, 4|. Undesired surges of the inertia member are prevented by the damping brake 52 to 55. If, however, a wheel begins to slip, the axle at once begins to decelerate very rapidly and almost immediately after the start of slipping attains a deceleration, say double the normal deceleration. The inertia member under this abnormal deceleration overruns the axle speed, fiexes one of the members 30, 3|, against the pressure of the coil spring 38, and moves its associated bridging contact into contact with the collector rings to close the switch.

The switch will be held closed until the deceleration again drops to a rate near the normal rate, say below 10 miles per hour per second, when the spring tension will return the parts to the position in Fig. 2 with the switch open.

With the arrangement of switch members shown, little wear of the switch contacts results because they are in engagement only at intervals of wheel slip. At the same time, during such intervals the contacts are engaged with the col-,-

lector rings and wipe over them to maintain them clean and free from accumulation of dirt or rust. Thus they are always maintained in good condition not withstanding the fact that they engage only in case of wheel slipping.

In Fig. 8 is shown a diagram of an electropneumatic brake control system which may be employed in'conjunction with the present invention for controlling the brakes associated with a wheel and axle for preventing wheel slide. In this diagram, the inertia-responsive switch is designated by 95, the brake cylinder by 96, the operator-controlled pipe line for supplying fluid under pressure to the brake cylinder by 91 and the automatically controlled valve devicecontrolling the admission to and release of iluid from the brake cylinder by 98. The condition of this valve is controlled by the control circuit or circuits responsive to the inertia switch 95. The valve 98 may comprise three chambers 99, 00 and |0| separated 'by ported partitions |02, |03. A double-acting valve |04 is arranged in the chamber |00 and has a fluted stem |05 guiding /it through the port in partition |02, the fluted stem being continued by a stem |06 of reduced section through an opening in the end wall of the valve casing, this outer projecting portion of the stem forming an armature operable by a magnet coil |01.

The valve is normally held in the position shown closing the port in thel partition |03, which in turn leads to the exhaust port |08, and opening the port through the partition |02, by a spring |09 surrounding the valve stem and bearing at one end against a shoulder |0 on the stem and at the other end against the adjacent end wall of the valve casing. In this position communication is established between the operator-controlled sup-I ply pipe through the pipe connecting the valve chamber |00 to the brake cylinder. While the valve is in this position, the brake cylinder pressure is thus under the control of the operator and can be varied at will.

When the wheel braked by the pressure in the brake cylinder starts'to slip the switch 95 is closed immediately, since the wheel starts to decelerate rapidly as soon as slipping is instigated. This closes a primary circuit from battery ||2 or other source of energy, through lead ||3, fuse H4, lead |5, magnet coil IIS, lead ||1, switch contacts of switch 95, lead ||8, fuse ||9, and lead |20 back to" the other side of the battery. The closing of this circuit immediately causes the armature |2|' of a closing switch in a relay circuit to be moved to the left, Fig. 12, closing the relay circuit for energizing the magnet valve |01 to operate the valve |04 to its other or lower position, in which it, cuts 01T the supply of fluid pressure to the brake cylinder and opens the brake cylinder to exhaust. This relay circuit comprises battery |`2, lead 3, fuse ||4, lead ||5, magnet coil |01, lead |2|, switch point |22, bridging contact |23, switch point |24, lead |25, fuse H9, and lead |20 back to the other side of the battery. Suitable condensers as |45 and |46 may be connected across the switch terminals to minimize arcing.

As soon as the valve is operated to the lower position the pressure drops rapidly in the brake cylinder releasing the brakes and allowing the wheel to accelerate back to normal. To prevent opening of the relay circuit at the time when the wheel ceases to decelerate and again starts to accelerate, at which time the inertia-responsive switch in the primary circuit'is open, a time delay device is associated with the relay circuit to hold the switch |22, |23, |24 closedfor a predetermined time period after the opening of the primary circuit. When the wheel has started to accelerate during slipping, the inertia member at a certain' point in the acceleration lags behind the wheel and closes the primary circuit again through the inertia-controlled switch 95 and holds it closed until the wheel acceleration has again come back to normal rate corresponding to the deceleration rate of the train as a whole. Not until the relaycircuit is allowed to be opened by the time delay device (which is again actuated to its starting position upon the second closure of the primary circuit and held in this position while the primary circuit is held closed, and is finally allowed to open the relay circuit only after the time for which it has been set has elapsed following the opening of the primary circuit as the wheel returns to its normal rate) is the valve returned to the position shown in Fig. 12 and the pressure again allowed to build up in the brake cylinder to apply the brakes.

In the diagram the time delay device is shown as comprising a dash-pot |26, the piston |21 and rod |28 of which is'connected to the armature |2|. The piston |21 is provided with a one-way valve |29 permitting the uid in the dash-pot to pass rapidly without hindrance from left to right of the piston when the coil ||6 is energized, to substantially instantly close the switch |22, |23,

|24. The switch member |23 has a lost motion.

connection with the piston rod |28 and is normally held against a shoulder |30 on the rod by a light spring |3|. This lost motion is provided to allow the piston |21 of the dash-pot to move to the right the required distance before the shoulder |30 strikes the contact member |23 and opens theY switch. The rate of return of the piston |21 to the right is controlled by a by-pass 4|32 the orifice |33 of which can be adjusted by an adjustable tapered plug |34.

While a specic dash-pot delay device has been described, it will be understood that other known types of delay action devices could be used. By setting the dash-pot device to delay the opening of the relay circuit for a period greater than the period during which the primary circuit is open when the Wheel goes from deceleration to acceleration during slipping, which has been found to be a very short period, of the order of a fourth of a second, ample time is assured, before the full reapplication of the brakes, to allow the wheel to return to normal speed, and yet the time can be so controlled that substantially no brak ing eiciency is lost except that lost during the short time in which the wheel, While slipping, is decelerating and again accelerating back to normal, which has been found of the order of one second or even less, If, after reapplication of the brakes following wheel slipping, the track conditions should be such as to reduce rail adhesion, the wheel may again reach a slipping condition and in such event, the cycle to bring it back to normal before it actually slides on the track would be repeated. Of course, the operator could prevent such recurrence if he observed the track conditions and reduce the pressure in the control pipe 91.

It should be understood that the control sys tem described does not form a part of the present invention, and that a description of it is included herein only to illustrate the complete operation of the present invention. Reference should be made to the copending application for Brake control means, Serial No. 415,518, filed Dctober 18, 1941, in which certain features of construction herein described are claimed. It will be apparent that the present invention can be variously modified and adapted within the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

l. An inertia device for registering the rotary condition of a rotatable member comprising a rotary inertia element, a flexible driving connection between said rotatable member and said element including spaced flexible spring members, each member being secured at one end to said inertia element and extending across the face thereof on opposite sides of the axis thereof, spaced abutments on said inertia element adia" cent the free ends of said members to limit the outwardly ilexing movement of each member, spring means biasing each member toward the associated abutment, means driven by said rotat-s able member and adapted to ex one of said spring members against the pressure of said sp1-ing means to press the other member against its associated abutment and rotate said inertia element, and electrical switch means adapted to be controlled by a predetermined degree of fier;- ing movement of either of said spring members.

2. An. inertia device for registering the rotary condition of a rotatable member comprising a rotary inertia element, a flexible driving connection between said rotatable member and said element including spaced iiexible spring members, each member being secured at one end to said inertia element and extending across the face thereof on opposite sides of the axis thereof, spaced abutments on said inertia element adjacent the free ends of said members to limit the outwardly flexing movement of each member, a coil spring interposed between the free ends of said flexible members to bias each member toward the associated abutment, means driv en by said rotatable member and adapted to ex one of said spring members against the pressure of said coil spring to press the other member against its associated abutment and rotate said inertia element, and electrical switch means adapted to be controlled by a predetermined degree of flexing movement of either of said spring members.

3. An inertia device for registering the rotary condition of a rotatable member comprising a rotary inertia element, a flexible driving connection between said rotatable member and said element including a pair ofparallel spaced ilexible members secured at their adjacent ends to said inertia element and extending across the face thereof on opposite sides of the axis thereof, spaced abutments on said inertia element adjacent the free ends of said members to limit the outwardly fiexing movement of each member, a coil spring interposed between the free ends of said flexible members to bias each member toward the associated abutment, mearisdriv-s en by said rotatable member and adapted to flex one or the other of said flexible members against the pressure of said coil spring to press the other member against its associated abutment and rotate said inertia element, and electrical switc means adapted to be controlled by a predetermined degree of flexing movement of either of said nexible members.

4. An inertia device for registering the rotary condition of a rotatable member comprising a rotary inertia element, a flexible driving connection between said rotatable member and said element including spaced flexible spring members, each member being secured at one end to said inertia element and extending across the face thereof on opposite sides of the axis thereof, spaced abutments on said inertia element adjacent the free ends of said members to limit the outward flexible movement of each member, spring means biasing each member toward the associated abutment, means driven by said rotatable member and adapted to flex one of said spring members against the pressure of said 'spring means to press the other member against its associated abutment and rotate said inertia element, and control means adapted to be operat ed by a predetermined degree of flexing movement of either of said spring members.

5. An inertia device for registering the rotary condition of a rotatable member comprising a rotary inertia element, a flexible driving connection between said rotatable member and said element including spaced movable members, each movable member being secured at one end to said inertia element and said movable members extending across the face of said element on opposite sides of the axis thereof, spaced abutments on said inertia element adjacent the free ends of said movable members to limit the outward movement of each member, means biasing each movable member toward its associated abutment, and means driven by said rotatable member and adapted to move one of said movable members against the action of said biasing means to press the other against its associated abutment and rotate said inertia element, and control means adapted to be operated by a predetermined degree of movement of either of said movable members.

6. An inertia device for registering the rotary condition of a rotatable member comprising a rotary inertia element, and a flexible driving connection between said rotatable member and said element including spaced movable members, each movable member being securedat one end to one of said rotatable member and said inertia element and said movable members extending transversely, and on opposite sides of the axis of, said one of said rotatable member and said inertia element, spaced abutments on said one of said rotatable member and said-inertia element adjacent -the free ends of said movable members to limit the outward movement of each member,

means biasing each movable member toward its 5 associated abutment, and means drivenn by the other of said rotatable member and said inertia element to move oneof said movable members against the action of said biasing means to press the other against its associated abutment and rotate said inertia element, and control means adapted to be operated by a predetermined degree of movement of either of said movable members. v v

. CAROLUS L. EKSERGIAN.

JOSEPH H. COOMBES. 

